


the potential of stardust

by candiedrhododendrons



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: A New Dawn, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Gen, Jedi!Hera
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-21
Updated: 2015-04-21
Packaged: 2018-03-25 03:04:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3794290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candiedrhododendrons/pseuds/candiedrhododendrons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another tiny Hera and tiny Caleb AU fic. In A New Dawn, Kanan briefly compares Hera’s apparent ideologies to the teachings of the Jedi Order. And I had this thought...what if Hera had been born Force sensitive? And what if the two had met during the Clone Wars, at the Temple on Coruscant...</p>
            </blockquote>





	the potential of stardust

<:><:><:>

_The little girl was looking at him in a way that made Caleb think she was going to hug him or something. But she didn’t. Instead she sat back in her seat and answered him._

_“It’s because…well, okay.” She crossed her arms, and furrowed her brows. “My dad once said something like… We’re all more than just stardust. Because we’re made of stardust, but all mushed together, in just the right way and at just the right time. We never existed before, and we’ll never exist again, mashed up perfectly the way we are now. So we have to, you know, use our life to do what’s right. Always. It’s the most important thing.” She paused and looked down at her hands.  “He used to tell me...if you don’t use your life to help other people, you’re wasting your potential.”_

_“Sounds like a tough guy…” Caleb said, before he could stop himself. Hera looked up at him. His hand rose to cover his mouth, but then balled into a fist and returned to his lap. “Sorry,” he said shaking his head. “Go ahead.”_

_“He’s not,” she said, frowning. “He just cares a lot about our people. He has to.”_

_Caleb nodded and rubbed at the back of his neck._

_“Anyway, I want to be a Jedi Knight so I can help people like he does, like...my mom does.” She took a moment to rest her small hand on the computer screen before them. “A lot of the other kids on Ryloth lost their parents in all the fighting that goes on back home. My friend lost both of his moms just before I left. Their village was bombed and they were home waiting for him to come back from school. He was crying when I told him I had to leave and...and he told me to go… He said to go be a Knight and keep those Separatist turds from killing anyone ever again. So. That’s what I’m gonna do.”_

_“Oh…” Caleb mumbled, falling back in his chair._

_Stars, this twerp had a lot more going on than anyone had guessed before she got here.  A Revolutionary father that didn’t want her to leave him, a General mother that left them when she was born, a home ripped to shreds by invading Separatists… And all of her talk about living for others and avenging those already lost to the enemy... He was fascinated by the little girl._

_And he was sure she had more makings of a Knight in her than he ever would. He thought about her moves in the yard that afternoon and the way she shut down the meditation instructor… There was so much more potential in her stardust than in his._

_He’d already asked her why she wanted to become a Jedi, and now he wanted to know even more. It seemed that whenever he received the answer to one question, myriads more ignited in his brain._

 

* * *

 

 _Earlier that same day.._.

 

Rumors had been going around the Temple since yesterday about some new student arriving that morning. And Caleb couldn’t have cared less.

“I bet there’s a reason she was kicked out of her old Temple…”

“They say she’s already in her twenties, guys. And she’s only gonna start her training _today_!”

“I heard she’s from one of those hinterland planets...”

“They recruited her because her midi-chlorian count was even greater than Master Skywalker’s, you know.”

Caleb had heard it all, every particle of gossip that floated around the Temple. But that was because he liked to pay attention to things, not because the prospect of a new initiate was at all interesting to him. New recruits came to the Temple all the time.

What had been congesting his thoughts all week was the fear that he might never pass his next Trial. Everyone in his clan, including him, had completed the first one weeks ago: demonstrating their knowledge of the Jedi Code, and showing that they’d memorized all of the Order’s teachings. That had been easy. They only recited the dicta five times a day. And most of his clan members were even younger than Caleb was; it wasn’t really that much of an accomplishment. What Caleb wanted was to move on and get the chance to build his own lightsaber. He already had dreams about how it would look, how it would feel in the palm of his hand as he deflected enemy fire and swung it into the faces of unsuspecting Separatist droids...

But their morning instructor, Master Antana, had said she hadn’t thought them quite ready for a Gathering yet. At this rate, the War would be over by the time Caleb reached the rank of padawan. If he ever reached the rank of padawan, that is. Stars, it was taking so long. He wondered if she just didn’t feel they had the potential at all. He figured Master Antana probably had a vision that he and the others were destined to join the Service Corps. He’d never be a Knight. She was probably just waiting for the right moment to drop the bad news.

Now Caleb rubbed at the back of his head as if trying to ease his thoughts. And when Master Antana’s usual morning lecture went off on a tangent into talk about kyber crystals, he sat up straighter in his seat. Could this mean…? He exchanged glances with some of his fellow students sitting around him on the floor.

But, of course, once the discourse had gotten interesting, it was interrupted by Master Windu, entering the room with a small Twi’lek girl at his side. Everyone’s attention shifted as they all looked excitedly at the new face. Caleb, on the other hand, was more frustrated than intrigued. _Blast it_. Master Antana was definitely just about to talk about their Gathering! Now it’d have to wait. And, oh of course, the session was almost over now too.  

 _I can always ask her more about kyber crystals after morning session anyway_ , Caleb thought as he tried not to be a baby and huff about it. He crossed his arms and tried to look ‘welcoming’ instead, like Master Antana had instructed when they all took their seats earlier that morning.

This newbie wasn’t that old for a newbie, they all noticed. At least no where near as old as they’d speculated. She walked into the room like a miniature soldier, with her hands behind her back, dressed in a crisp gray tunic and pants, similar to those worn by all of the other younglings in the Temple. Her head-tails were laced with silver strips of fabric made out of the same material as her leather head covering. Her green skin paled slightly in the bright sunlight coming in from the ceiling-high window panes opposite the doorway.

Caleb thought the girl couldn’t be more than about eight or nine years old, but it was hard to tell. In any case, most of the younglings here had been brought to the Temple at a much younger age. Caleb himself had been here for as long as he could remember, and he was almost twelve years old. And as everyone silently inspected their new classmate, Caleb wondered what it would feel like to be in her shoes. She had a lot of catching up to do, if she was to keep their clan from falling behind. He even had some friends his age in other clans who’d been taken on as _padawans_  already. He thought about how they were probably off fighting Separatist droids and battling side by side with the GAR, all while he was sitting in the Temple now, listening to Master Windu as he spoke.

“This is Master Antana, your new Instructor,” Master Windu said, briefly introducing the girl to her new educator. “And Master, this is Hera Syndulla. Your new Trainee.” Master Antana nodded and Hera stood up straight, facing her but keeping her eyes cast down at the floor.

“It’s good to meet you, my Master,” she said, her light voice as silvery as her headdress. “I look forward to, um, becoming a Jedi under your training.”

Master Antana smiled. “I look forward to being one of your many teachers, Hera. We welcome you to Coruscant.”

Master Windu turned to face the rest of the younglings. “I expect you all to welcome Hera with open arms and as your new companion,” he said firmly. “She comes all the way from the Outer Rim, and she’ll need allies if she is to catch up with her Trials.” Hera glanced up at him. Caleb thought he saw her stifling a frown.  “All of which I am positive you will ace in no time,” Master Windu added, looking down at her. Hera’s eyes returned to the patterned flooring.

Caleb and the other students watched with raised brows as Master Windu walked Hera towards their sitting circle. The Jedi Master instructed her to take a seat among the group and she looked up from her feet again, biting her lower lip as she surveyed the room for a place. Hera raised her chin confidently, but the energy streaming from her Force signature gave away her anxiety. Caleb didn’t blame her. Some of his fellow initiates were already starting to whisper about her amongst themselves and exchange furtive smirks.  

Hera’s expression relaxed ever so slightly when her eyes suddenly landed on the empty spot next to him. She hurriedly walked over and plopped down on the floor beside Caleb. He kept his eyes on the front of the room while she glanced at him and copied his stance, sitting with her legs crossed and hands clasped together in her lap.

The whispering around them grew quieter, but now _everyone_  was talking. Of course, no one talked to Hera herself. And Caleb wasn’t going to be the first one to do it.

“She passed the first Trial with flying colors,” Master Windu was telling Master Antana now. “Clearly, she knows how to implement instruction from the Manual on her own, which is impressive at her age. Because of her score and his readings, Master Yoda has placed her in the Ghost clan.”

Master Antana nodded and the two spoke in hushed tones until the bell sounded for dismissal.

Once he heard the ring, Caleb jumped up from the floor and crossed to the center of the room. He waited as his fellow students streamed past him towards the door, until Master Windu bowed his head at Master Antana, and left as well.

“Um, Master Antana? I have a question,” Caleb said, approaching her at her station in the front of the room.

The other students finished filing out. Once the noise of their bustling settled a bit, Master Antana smiled gently at Caleb and sighed. “Of course you do. What is it this time, young one?”

“Well, it’s about that stuff you were saying about kyber crystals. So, they resonate with the Force? Does that mean I can just rely on the Force during our Gathering in order to find the one meant for me? Or is the test more about skill or whatever?”

“Well…” Master Antana’s eyes fell onto something behind him and her voice trailed off. Caleb looked over his shoulder to see the new girl standing there. “One moment, Caleb,” Master Antana said, standing up. “Need some help, new one?”

Hera nodded, taking a step back. “Um...excuse me, my Master. I’m just not sure how to get to the Meditation Hall from here?”

“Ah. As it turns out, you’re in the same clan as my friend, here. He also has meditation in the Hall this period.” She placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Caleb, why don’t you walk our new comrade to your next session?”

Caleb looked up at the woman. “But, Master, the kyber crystals? Will the Force—”

“We’ll talk more about kyber crystals tomorrow morning, Caleb. I’m sure your entire group has many, many questions about them. Right now, I’m putting you in charge of helping your new clan member get to all of her lessons on her first day.”

“Bu—”

“Now, hurry on. You two don’t want to be late.” She smiled once more at Hera before returning to her seat to begin preparing for her next class.

Caleb sighed noisily and bowed his head, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “Yes, Master.” He turned on his heels and gestured for Hera to follow him. “Come on. It’s this way,” he muttered. He tried to sound ‘welcoming’ as he spoke.

But it wasn’t coming off that way.

 

* * *

 

Caleb and Hera walked silently down the hallway, until they caught up with the other younglings swarming about ahead of them, each one swiftly on their way to their next class. Caleb saw a group of girls all walking together with lightsaber hilts hanging from their belts. They were probably off to a class on armed combat or something. He eyed them enviously.

"What's your name again?" Caleb asked his ‘new comrade.’ He remembered it, but he was just trying to make conversation.

"Hera," she said, her eyes giving away her relief that another initiate was finally talking to her.

"And yours?" she asked, remembering that Master Antana had called him Caleb.

"C—"

"That's Paranoid Dumesday," called a Durosian boy that suddenly appeared behind them in the hallway. He scurried up to Caleb and nearly knocked him over, waggishly crashing into his left arm. "He thinks every other day is the apocalypse," he explained to the girl. "Which only bothers him because it would ruin his chance of getting knighted. Wouldn't it Dumes?" He gave Caleb's face a playful slap.

"Knock it _off_ ," Caleb told him gruffly, pushing him away. “Get to class, Jaxon.”

“You’re that new kid, huh?” Jaxon asked Hera.

Hera nodded.

“Whatever you do, just don't ever start talking to this guy about the War, man. He'll just go on and on about all the dreams he’s had about it," Jaxon continued telling Hera. Hera lowered a brow.

"I don't do that!" Caleb shoved him again, harder, and the boy's laughter faltered.

"Alright alright, easy Dumesday." Jaxon backed off, taking a hint. He knew Caleb wouldn't hesitate to throw a punch at him if he went too far. It'd happened before. "Save it for the battlefield," he added with a snicker once he was out of arm's reach and turning back in the direction he came.

Caleb sighed as he glared at the boy's retreating figure.

"My name's Caleb," he said to Hera eventually, readjusting his tunic sleeves.

"Was he your friend?" Hera asked him, looking searchingly at the other younglings ahead of them. She seemed less relieved now that he'd talked to her.

"Not even close," Caleb muttered, kind of annoyed she couldn't tell. Caleb had been reprimanded for his share of misdemeanors, true. But he definitely wasn't anything like the _Jaxon's_ of the academy. That was for sure. He tried to brush off the thought as they started walking again, now at the tailend of the horde of students trying to enter the Meditation Hall.

Hera briefly looked over her shoulder at the empty hallway behind them. "Where was he going?"

"They're taking a different class outside. He's not in our clan," Caleb explained, glad he didn't have classes with that turd-bucket.

"Oh."

Catching the inkling of confusion in her response, he glanced at her. And it suddenly dawned on him how perplexing this day must have been for the younger girl. Everything they were doing was Caleb and the others' whole life, all that they knew. But Hera was only a little kid just now taking her first step into a larger world. And though he'd assumed the Masters had given her some sort of tour before today, she'd still never gone through a real day of training. He tried to imagine what it would be like, had this not been his daily routine. Had he been flown in from a planet parsecs away, and thrust into all of this just hours ago. Her mind was probably stars away, a million questions racing around inside. He knew his would be...

"Younglings like us are split into groups called clans. And there are three different clans in our morning session," he added eventually. The flow of students going into the Hall moved slowly and they took small steps towards the entrance every few seconds. "Where you came in, and sat on the floor earlier? That's the morning session I'm talking about. And after morning sesh, we split up and take different lessons, depending on which clan we're in. That way the Masters can help us out better, and stuff. Right now is meditation. It’s the easiest class because all we do is recite the Code.”

Hera nodded, her lekku bouncing.

"You have that ghost symbol on your belt." Caleb nodded at it and she looked. "Because you're in the Ghost clan with me." He pointed to the same symbol embroidered on his own sash.

"Oh.” She seemed to understand now. "Oh yeah, I remember reading about that in the Jedi Path Manual.” She pressed a palm against her forehead. “Ugh, it’s like I memorized it all for the test but once that was over, all the stuff I learned just spilled right out of my brain."

“Same thing happens to me,” Caleb said, nodding. He figured he didn't mind having Hera following him around for the day anymore. Even if she was just this newbie runt, she was part of his clan now. And maybe she was the reason why Master Antana wanted to wait for their group to go on their Gathering. Maybe her assigning him to help Hera out today was part of his training. He should probably help Hera get as much learning done as possible today. The faster she caught up, the better.

Besides, he'd like it if he had someone to show him the ropes, anyway.

 

* * *

 

Instructor Gludious delayed the usual meditation ritual in order to welcome Hera to their class. “I sense a new presence has joined us today.” From his place at the front of the room, he surveyed the sea of initiates all sitting seiza-style across the carpeted floor and chatting quietly among themselves. Sunlight fluttered into the room through the tree branches outside. Coming in through the tinted window panes, the purplish light painted the students faces with dapples of sunrays. Hera was near the back of the Hall, sitting next to Caleb, who was sitting on the mat closest to the door. (Dumesday had a thing about always being close to the nearest exit, naturally.)

Instructor Gludious’ eyes fell on Hera almost immediately after he’d spoken. He stretched out a hand in her direction. “Stand, young one.”

Hera pushed herself to her feet and lifted her chin.

“Introduce yourself to the class,” the instructor directed, warmly.

Hera coughed into her sleeve. “My name is Hera Syndulla and I’m from Ryloth,” she said, her voice barely quivering. She clasped her hands together behind her. When the class went silent, she added, “I’m...glad to be here on Coruscant now.”

 _Stars, that’s embarrassing_ , Caleb thought, pitying Hera for having to talk in front of everyone like that.

Instructor Gludious was always making them do stuff like that; he wasn’t anyone’s favorite teacher. As a matter of fact, he possibly wasn’t anyone’s favorite student either. As the legend goes, the old man had dreamed of becoming a Jedi Knight, once upon a time. But he was never able to pass all of his initiate Trials. So now he was part of the EduCorps, and led meditation sessions for the younglings. He really liked to put kids on the spot and make them uncomfortable. Possibly out of jealousy. Possibly just because he was a jerk. One of Caleb’s greatest fears, besides being his victim one day, was turning into a guy like that.

Instructor nodded. “Ryloth. How exotic.” He smiled. “You come from very distant land, youngling. I hope your journey to Coruscant was a pleasant one.”

Hera shrugged. “Thank you.”

“Was it a long ride all the way from the Outer Rim? I’m sure escaping your planet’s surface was a hassle…”

“Not really. And the ride was kinda boring. But Master Windu’s clones let me put the ship into hyperspace. I learned how from my dad, and they said it was cool. So that part was fun.”

Instructor Gludious didn’t seem at all interested in Hera’s flying skills but Caleb and several of the other kids were impressed. They sat up straighter in their spots. That sounded like the life of a padawan.

“Well, I’m sure growing up where you did, learning to take off into hyperspace is an important skill!” Master Gludious smoothed his robes and continued. “Here, at the Temple on Coruscant, initiates are required to sit quietly and repeat the Jedi Code to themselves five times a day.” Instructor sat in lotus position and closed his eyes. “You had to memorize the Code in order to arrive here, of course. So there is no doubt you know it. Do you think you could recite it now?” He smiled gently. “If you slip up, we will help you.”

Hera nodded and she shut her eyes. “There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no, um, passion, there is serenity. There is no...uh, chaos? There is...order.”

“Harmony,” Instructor Gludious corrected, smiling softly.

“Oh. There is harmony. There is no death, th—”

“Ah ah ah. Start again. From the top, young one. It is essential that you have this down pat. _There is no emotion…_ ”

Hera repeated the entire mantra. Then she took a deep breath.

“And, Hera, do you know _why_  it is we have you all repeat this code everyday?” Instructor Gludious asked her. “I know this may be difficult to remember. It was only mention briefly in the Manual.”

Hera bit her lip. “Um. I think it’s because of the Third Pillar?” she said, softly.

“What was that? Speak up.”

“The Third Pillar,” she repeated, louder. “Self-discipline.”

The instructor frowned. “Right. It’s for self-discipline.” He rubbed his beard. “And when we say _self-discipline_  here, we are implying the conquering of nine specific traits. Can you name them all?”

 _Jeez, give her a break_ , Caleb thought, making a mental note to re-memorize those traits once he got back to his cabin, lest he be put on the spot next time. He knew them all except the last few...

Hera shifted. “Uh...arrogance...overconfidence…defeatism...” She paused for a second and glanced at Caleb. Quickly he mouthed the next word. “Stubbornness,” she said, facing forward again. “Recklessness. Curiosity. Aggression. Loyalties—”

“ _External_  Loyalties,” the instructor corrected.

Hera paused again. “Do I have to start over?”

Instructor Gludious raised both eyebrows. “Yes, young one. We strive for perfect understanding here.”

Hera repeated the list of qualities again. Caleb put his chin in his hands and leaned forward. The meditation session was the shortest class, and already it was nearly over.

“Excellent,” Instructor Gludious said when she’d finished. Then he asked her a final question. “Now, as a child from a violence-ridden planet like Ryloth, it probably meant almost nothing until you joined with us here. But what does self-discipline mean to you based on what you just recited?” Instructor Gludious smiled good-naturedly as he said it, but Caleb saw Hera stifling a frown again. “Anything at all?”

“To me...self-discipline means something like…” She wrinkled her nose. “Not telling someone to shove it up their exhaust pipe when they’re insulting your planet. Because you wouldn’t want to hurt their feelings.”

Caleb nearly choked, and some of the others giggled. But Hera wasn’t smiling.

And neither was Instructor Gludious.

 

* * *

 

Caleb didn’t see Hera again until the middle of his HTH combat class with his favorite instructor, Master Xan.  The small girl walked into the recreation center and handed Master Xan a pass before joining Caleb and his cohort on the mats. Master Xan was having them practice open-hand strikes on dummies. Caleb saved the dummy next to him, just in case his ‘new comrade’ returned from her meeting with a Council member before lunch. Besides, he wasn’t close friends with anyone else in this class, or his clan really.

Hera stood on the mat next to him and copied the way he bared his palm and clouted the dummy. She didn’t say anything about how much trouble she’d gotten into after talking back to Instructor Gludious, so Caleb asked her.

“So, did you get in trouble with the Council?”

She shook her head and said nothing. She was probably embarrassed, it being her first day and all. Caleb decided to ask about something else.

"So, why’d you come here? Did they transfer you from a Temple on your home planet or something?"

Hera shook her head again, and she didn't seem very eager to respond, but she did. "I'm just here to become a Jedi, like everyone else?" She watched him spin on his heels and elbow the dummy in its solar plexus. She spun around and did the same. She packed quite a punch for such a small kid. Caleb took a mental note of that so he’d remember not to get on her bad side.

"Sorry, I know that." He rubbed at his chin. "I just mean...why now? Just curious, I don’t know.”

The girl sighed softly, but she answered him. "My family didn't want to send me off before I was ready. But they had to eventually.” She didn’t elaborate. “I've never seen a Temple like this on my planet. I don’t think there’s any on Ryloth.”

Caleb bended his fingers slightly and struck the dummy in the throat. Hera did the same. "There was this guy named Jinx that used to go here. He’s a padawan now, but yeah. He was from Ryloth."

The girl raised her brows and nodded. She didn't seem too impressed.

"You must miss them a lot, your family,” he added, palming the dummy in the chin. Caleb had never known his own family, and he wondered what it was like to be a part of that sort of unit. The Masters were always calling their clans a _family_  and the Temple staff a _family_...but Caleb wondered what ‘real’ family was like. The only information he had on his own included their name and that they supposedly loved him very much. But all the younglings at the Temple were told those things. So that didn’t really mean anything to him.

Still, _had_  that meant something to him...had he been like Hera...he wondered how different he would have felt about being so far away from them now. What it'd be like to leave one’s family forever at the age of only eight or nine. To lose everyone and everything he once called home. Jeez. He imagined it was a pretty harsh experience.

"Yeah," Hera replied, her tiny silver-like voice quivering now. “I miss my dad especially.”

Caleb silently regretted asking. They both knew she may never see her dad again. "By the way, our lunch break comes after this,” he said, trying to change the subject. “Well, after recess in the yard. At lunch, you can sit with me and my friends. A lot of them are in our clan, and you’ll probably be bunking with them. Just find us at our table, okay?"

Hera smiled at him, and she didn’t speak again until they moved on to the next exercise, which was ‘cooling down’ by means of sixty sit-ups. Master Xan did not play around. That’s why she was Caleb’s favorite. He had a feeling her sort of training is what really made someone into a Knight.

“Did...did you know General Ertay?” Hera asked out of the blue. She spoke quietly, as if inquiring about something confidential.

Caleb grunted slightly, reaching his sixtieth sit-up and turning over to stretch. “Uh, no. I don’t think so? Why? Who’s he?”

Hera frowned. She finished her sit-ups too. “Just someone I thought I’d meet when I got here,” she told him.

When he raised an eyebrow at her, she shook her head. “It’s nothing,” she said, turning over onto her stomach and imitating the way he lifted his torso off the ground.

 

* * *

 

At recess, Caleb found his friends from some of the other clans and they decided to play sword fighting. The kids would all pretend to be their favorite heroes of old or their idolized Jedi Knights of new. Caleb usually played the role of Master Kenobi.

He put his lightsaber (a wooden stick) back onto the handle of his belt and rubbed at his chin the way he’d often seen Master Kenobi do. “I say, Anakin. I have never seen such a hideous display of villainy in all my life,” he said in his best Core Worlds accent.

His Togruta friend, Vela, was always Master Skywalker. She whipped her lightsaber from her belts and began running towards their friends who were playing as Count Dooku and his droid-goons. “Come on, Master. We can stand around and examine their looks or take them down!” she said, making _wooshing_  sounds with her mouth as she hit her friends with the fallen tree branch.

“Hey, hey! Vela, you’re playing too rough!” one of the goons complained as she whacked him across the back.

“Can I play?”

Caleb turned around to see the new kid, Hera, walking towards them from across the yard. She’d stayed behind in the recreation hall to talk with Master Xan after their last class, and Caleb told her to find him at recess.

“Yeah, sure,” he said, speaking like himself again. “Just, um. You gotta pretend to be someone else.” He handed her a ‘lightsaber’ he found in the grass.

“Hmm…” Hera smiled as she took it. “I want to be…” She swung her sword and posed. “The beautiful Jedi Knight, Master Unduli.”

Caleb cupped his hand over his mouth and called over to Vela. “Anakin! We have an urgent transmission from Master Unduli!”

Anakin looked up from where she was relentlessly beating down on Dooku’s goon with her lightsaber. She scrambled to her feet and ran back over. “What’s she saying Obi-wan?” she asked, returning her lightsaber to her belt.

Master Unduli picked up a small rock and began speaking into it. “The Seps are infiltrating the Temple! The droids are blasting all the cake in the kitchen so that the initiates won’t have any for desert!”

Obi-wan and Anakin gasped as Luminara front-flipped and doubled kicked an invisible enemy.

“We need reinforcements!” she continued into her commlink. “Please hurry! Obi-wan, you’re the cake’s only hope!” She threw her comlink to the ground and continued battling the invisible droids behind her. “You fiends! You’re even destroying the icing!”

“Not the cake!” Anakin gasped. “Obi-wan, if Dooku even touches that cake...I swear, I will personally rip all his droids to shreds!” She balled her fists angrily.

“Calm down, Anakin!” Obi-wan scolded. “No need for such violence. No one’s getting any cake but those younglings. We just need a plan.” He rubbed his chin some more. “It’s time for Operation Frosting…” He did a backflip and pulled out his lightsaber, joining Master Unduli in the heat of battle.

“Took you long enough!” Master Unduli exclaimed, levitating a stone and launching it at an enemy tree. Some of the goons didn’t want to be goons anymore and instead started levitating stones at the tree as well, helping Obi-wan and Luminara defend the precious cake. “The droids are turning to our side, Master Kenobi! And they have the Force!"

“Excellent!” Obi-wan grinned and rubbed at his hairless chin, yet again. “See Anakin? No need for…”

Obi-wan looked over to see Anakin viciously attacking Count Dooku with not one, but now _two_  lightsabers in her hand. “Die, you cake-killer!”

“Alright Vela! Alright, alright!” the Count surrendered. "I want to be someone else now!"

Obi-wan shook his head. “Unbelievable. I mean, everyone loves cake. But I swear only Anakin loves it _that_ much.”

 

* * *

 

Hera brought up the name again after the children had washed up hands and sat in the refectory for lunch.

“Do any of you know a Jedi Knight called General Ertay?” the little girl asked. All the younglings at the table shook their heads and continued eating their lunches. They were all too distracted, even to pay attention to the new girl.

Their friend Byph, who had recently switched to the Crystal clan, had just been invited to sit at the other table with Katooni and Petro, two of the clan’s top students and the most popular initiates in the Temple. Everyone at Caleb’s tabled looked on in awe.

Caleb didn’t really care, though. Well not a lot. He might have cared if Katooni had said she liked Byph or something. But as long as she didn’t say she liked anybody, he didn’t care. At least not a lot. It wasn’t like those kids knew who he was, anyway. He should be happy for Byph. He tried not to look over his shoulder at their table and instead he watched as Hera quietly put down her spoon and looked down at her shoes without another word. She’d been laughing only a few minutes ago outside. Who was this Ertay guy, and why was he so important to her?

“Maybe we could check the Archives,” he offered.

Jaxon, nodded. “Yeah,” he agreed, his mouth full of chewed-up food. For some reason he decided to sit with Caleb every once in a while, no matter how many times Caleb told him to get lost. Jaxon had a habit a wobbling his legs around as he sat, and right now his knee wouldn’t stop slamming against Caleb’s. Caleb fought the urge to fork him in the thigh and he stabbed his bowl of salad instead, before telling Jaxon to move over. “Madame Jocasta could help you look him up. She knows everything,” Jaxon said, after sliding a bit away.

Hera’s lekku bounced as she lifted her chin, her eyes widening at Caleb. “Really?”

Caleb shrugged. “Yeah. All the Jedi’s profiles are in there somewhere.”

Hera beamed and she started to eat again, much more quickly now. Caleb downed his carton of blue milk and then watched her as she hurriedly stuffed her face, wondering what she was so excited about.

Once Hera’d swallowed her last spoonful of rycrit stew she jumped from her seat and ran around to his side of the table.

“Come on!” she said, tugging him by the elbow.

“W-what? I didn’t mean now!” he exclaimed, nearly falling from his chair. But he got to his feet and followed her towards the door.

Even he wanted to know what information the library had on General Ertay at this point, even if it was just to satisfy his curiosity.

 

* * *

 

“The library is where we go to do research for projects or missions,” Caleb was telling Hera as they ambled down the hallway. “So try and pay attention to how we get there, okay?”

Hera didn’t seem to be listening. She looked like her mind was galaxies away.

“Hey, why do you want to know more about this Ertay guy anyway?” Caleb asked once they’d reached the lift at the end of the hall. He figured he’d be finding out in a few minutes.

Hera looked down at her boots and grabbed onto the railing inside the lift while Caleb pressed the buttons on its inner wall. She really was younger than he and the others had expected. “I’ve just always dreamed of meeting her,” she said softly.

“Oh.”

Her? She hadn’t corrected him before...but maybe she didn’t think it mattered if he couldn’t help find her. He tried to remember ever hearing of a female Jedi Knight called General Ertay, but he couldn’t. There were a lot of Jedi Knights.

Soon enough, the lift opened up to the next floor. Caleb stepped through the giant wooden doors that lead into the Archives’ First Hall and Hera followed right behind him. Up here, in this baronial entrance, the ceilings were even higher and the decor on the walls even more ornamental than in rooms downstairs. As Caleb lead Hera to the center of the library, their footsteps silent against the red carpet flooring, blue light from the array of datacards glowed from the shelves and against their robes and faces. Up here the halls were enchantingly appointed by gilded ceilings and porcelain statues. The eerie glow from the stacks gave the furnishings a mystical effect, making the library seem otherworldly.

Caleb loved that about the Archives. Hera’s eye widened as she took it all in for the first time.

Once they’d reached the rotunda at the center of the library, Caleb looked around for Madame Jocasta. He didn’t have to look for long.

“Hello there. Searching for something?” Madame Jocasta asked, approaching them from behind.

Caleb spun around. “Hi, Master Nu. Um, yeah, we’re just looking up some information on a Jedi Knight named…” he glanced at Hera.

“Finn Ertay.”

“Finn Ertay. It’s for a project.”

The librarian nodded and led them to a row of computers near the back of the library. “You can search for any information on the Jedi here,” she explained. Caleb knew she meant _any information that wasn’t dangerous in enemy hands_  but he thanked her for the help.

“Madame Jocasta. A word,” interrupted another woman in robes that Caleb didn’t recognize. She’d just walked over from the row of glowing shelves across the room.

“Pardon me, children.” Madame Jocasta excused herself and went over to talk to the woman. They whispered about some setback in Felucia, something about putting a padawan on guard duty in the Archives, while Caleb and Hera pulled up some chairs to the computer desk.

“We have to be sorta quick. The next lesson starts in half an hour,” Caleb reminded Hera, as she typed slowly with one finger. He kept forgetting she was much younger than he was.

Once Hera had Finn Ertay typed into the terminal, she hit _search_  and soon a two-dimensional image of the Knight was smiling back at them from a new cyberpage. The woman was a Twi’lek with pale green skin, like Hera. Her eyes were as blue as the datacards sitting on the shelves all around them. Caleb thought she was rather beautiful.

“That’s her?” he asked, leaning forward so he could read the page. Not much information was given besides Finn Ertay’s name, rank, latest achievements and home planet. But that was more than he expected. As it turned out, she was also from Ryloth.

Hera nodded, silently.

“Who is she?” Caleb asked, looking at her now. He wondered if Hera had met her before. They were both from Ryloth anyway. But then he thought Ryloth was too big of a planet to make that assumption. He didn’t know everyone on Coruscant, after all. Maybe Hera’d only heard stories about General Ertay, the way she’d only heard about Master Unduli.

Hera didn’t answer him right away. Her mouth trembled. Her green eyes welled with tears. And soon her tiny hands were covering them. She sniveled softly, but then her sniffling turned into quiet sobs.

“...Hera?”

Her voice was small, barely audible. “ _She’s my mom._ ”

 

<:><:><:>

 

_  
_

**Author's Note:**

> Because this story takes place in an alternate-but-nearly-congruent universe, I was pretty liberal when writing about the rules and organization of the Temple. Also I highly doubt that Finn Ertay is at all related to Hera Syndulla, but again, this is just an alternate fictionality. (I may or may not write a few more chapters about tiny Jedi!Hera and tiny Caleb growing up into reckless padawans at some point.)


End file.
